Yearning for “Mystery”? Come visit the Burke Library to view a new exhibit of paintings, “Magnificent Skies and Mysterious Landscapes,” featuring works by artist Beatrice Terrien who was raised down the hall in the corridors of Union Theological Seminary and has remained a lifelong Morningside Heights resident and friend of the library. On view September through December, 2025.
About the Artist
Beatrice’s first home was her parents’ apartment in Knox Hall – there used to be a playground with a jungle gym in the UTS quad, she recalls. Her father was Biblical scholar Samuel Terrien (several of whose monographs are held here at the Burke Library) the Davenport Professor of Hebrew and Cognate Languages. Her mother Sarah Frantz Terrien worked in Union’s library as a cataloger for over two decades. Beatrice’s earliest memories are connected to life in the Seminary, and to what she could see along Claremont Avenue and Riverside Drive.
“I always drew what I saw,” Beatrice recalls. “People, animals, and the wide vistas of sky, buildings, and the Hudson River. It was only with my retirement from administrative work at Columbia University that I had the time to paint more or less full time, and at that point I was fortunate to have the guidance of Connie Hayes in Italy and Maine, and of John MacDonald in the Hudson Valley. Caravaggio, Corot, Inness, Morrisot, Sargent, Seago, Sorolla, Schmid, the Hudson River School and Tonalism inspire me daily. My aim is to bring light into a painting and to elicit an emotional realm to each viewer.”
While traveling the world – especially the parts of France home to her extended family – she has remained grounded in Morningside Heights. She graduated from Barnard College in ‘76, obtained her MPhil in Comparative Literature at Columbia, and served as an Associate Dean in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences for several decades.
Beatrice and her husband Prof. Bob Somerville (the Ada Byron Bampton Tremaine Professor of Religion and Professor of History at Columbia), now retired, have been keen friends of the Burke Library for years and throughout the many shifts and transformations seen by the library and the academic community of Morningside Heights.
Contact for Inquiries & Sales:
Instagram: @beatriceterrien
Email: bt3@columbia.edu
What an extra ordinary journey and accomplishment!!
It has been a delight and privilege to know Beatrice and her husband prof Bob Somerville for decades!
Now would be an additional privilege to visit her artwork!
Best wishes!
Here is some one who is on the go to contribute more to the society, education, culture and friendship !
Laxmi
Dear Dr Baxi,
Thank you for your kind words. I am deeply touched. You are my ideal of an OB/GYN and my son has a great life because of you.
Deep thanks, Joaquin, for your kind words. It is an honor to be your neighbor.
Beatrice
Thank you for your kind words, Dr Baxi. I am deeply touched. You are my ideal of an OB/GYN and my son has a great life because of you.
So very proud of you Beatrice. You continue to amaze us all.
I enjoyed reading this article about your childhood and your family, dear Beatrice. You are so very talented as well as so warm and gracious. Our building is lucky to possess your paintings. We look forward to the exhibition in the gorgeous room of the Union Theological seminary.
My dear friend since childhood, we have experienced so much together – and now, immersed in our different but related arts, we understand and revere each other’s creations…
I just looked up your IG account. Such ebullient clouds. Wish I could see this exhibit!